August 2021 (7/22 – 8/18) Nielsen Audio PPM Ratings Day 3: First Time On Top For KSMG

Day 3 of Nielsen Audio’s PPM releases are now available for Portland, Charlotte, San Antonio, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Columbus.

All the numbers can be found at RadioInsight.com/Ratings.


Radio One Adult R&B “105.3 RNB” WOSF claims the Charlotte market lead for the first time in over two years with a 5.5 to 6.2 gain. Beasley Media Country 103.7 WSOC nudges up to second 5.9 to 6.1. iHeartMedia Classic Rock “99.7 The Fox” WRFX drops to third 7.3 to 6.0. Beasley AC “K104.7” WKQC holds steady at 5.9. iHeartMedia Country “96.9 The Kat” WKKT falls from second to fifth down 6.6 to 5.8.

Public News/Talk 91.5 KOPB-FM remains on top of Portland 8.2 to 8.1. iHeartMedia Classic Hits “106.7 The Eagle” KLTH slips 8.1 to 7.6, while sister AC “K103” KKCW trends up 5.4 – 5.7 – 6.0. Alpha Media News/Talk 101.1 KXL is fourth 5.5 to 5.2. Audacy Variety Hits “97.1 Charlie” KYCH places fifth 4.6 to 4.8.

Alpha Media CHR “Live 95.5” KBFF trends up 2.4 – 3.0 – 3.6, while Jazz 89.1 KMHD is up 1.2 to 1.8.

Cox Media Group Hot AC “Magic 105.3” KSMG jumps up 6.5 to 7.7 to tie sister Classic Hits 101.1 KONO-FM (7.9 to 7.7) atop San Antonio. Ratings Expert Chris Huff notes this is the first time in KSMG history for it to hold a share of the lead. Cox Classic Rock “106.7 The Eagle” KTKX drops to third down 6.8 to 5.8. iHeartMedia Country “KJ 97” KAJA rises 5.0 to 5.7 for fourth. Three stations tie for fifth with iHeartMedia News/Talk 1200 WOAI up 4.5 to 5.2, Alpha Media Variety Hits “102.7 Jack-FM” KJXK up 4.7 to 5.2, and Cox Country “Y100” KCYY down 5.9 to 5.2.

Trending up in San Antonio is Alpha Media Regional Mexican “Norteño 104.1/720” KSAH/KSAH-FM 1.6 – 2.0 – 2.5. Heading downward are Public News/Talk 89.1 KSTX (5.1 – 4.5 – 3.7), Univision Rhythmic Hot AC (3.8 to 2.9) and iHeartMedia CHR “Now 96.1” KXXM (4.6 – 2.9).

iHeartMedia News/Talk 1530 KFBK/93.1 KFBK-FM (steady at 8.7) and Audacy Classic Rock “Eagle 96.9” KSEG (8.2 to 8.7) tie atop Sacramento. Bonneville AC “Mix 96” KYMX rebounds 6.3 to 6.7. iHeartMedia Soft AC “92.5 The Breeze” KBEB rises 5.4 to 6.4. Bonneville Country 105.1 KNCI is down sharply 8.0 to 6.2.

Audacy Rhythmic CHR 102.5 KSFM rises 2.0 to 2.0, while sister CHR “106.5 The End” KUDL falls 4.0 to 2.9. Following its move from 103.5, Entravision’s Bilingual Rhythmic “Fuego 101.9” KHHM rises 1.0 to 1.4.

iHeartMedia Classic Hits 94.1 KODJ surges up 7.3 to 8.8 for what Huff notes is the largest share in station history breaking the 8.0 share it held in June. Capital Broadcasting AC “Now 97.9” KBZN is up to second 6.7 to 7.1. Bonneville News/Talk 860 KSL/102.7 KSL-FM dips 6.9 to 6.8, while co-owned AC “FM 100” KSFI drops 7.6 to 6.7 and Classic Rock “103.5 The Arrow” KRSP dips 6.5 to 6.4.

Classical 89.1 KBYU falls 4.1 – 3.5 – 1.9.

The leaderboard in Orlando tightens immensely as Audacy Classic Hits “Sunny 105.9” WOCL falls 10.2 to 7.5. Cox Adult R&B “Star 94.5” WCFB trends downward 8.0 – 7.7 – 7.2, but sister Country “K92” WWKA jumps up three share points 4.1 to 7.2. iHeartMedia CHR “XL 106.7” WXXL holds steady at a 6.9 share, while Spanish Tropical “Rumba 100.3” WRUM inches up 6.5 to 6.6.

Cox Spanish Hot AC “Exitos 96.5” WOEX trends up 3.9 – 4.1 – 4.0. iHeartMedia Hip Hop “104.5 The Beat” W283AN/WTKS-HD2 jumps up 1.5 to 2.6.

Beasley Classic Hits 96.3 KKLZ rises 7.1 to 7.4 to top Las Vegas. Lotus Regional Mexican “La Buena 101.9” KWID trends up 4.9 – 5.5 – 6.6. Faith Communications Christian AC 90.5 KSOS-FM drops from its station record 7.1 to 6.2. iHeartMedia AC “Sunny 106.5” KSNE rises 5.7 to 6.0. Lotus Classic Rock “97.1 The Point” KXPT dips 5.0 to 4.7.

iHeartMedia Rock 102.5 WDVE Pittsburgh slips 11.1 to 9.6, while co-owned Classic Hits “94.5 3WS” WWSW is down 9.7 to 8.7. Audacy Sports “93.7 The Fan” KDKA-FM trends up 6.4 – 6.7 – 8.2 to move up to third. Steel City Media Variety Hits “96.9 Bob-FM” WRRK falls 7.9 to 6.6. Audacy News/Talk 1020/100.1 KDKA trends up 4.2 – 4.9 – 5.4.

Two stations account for nearly 26 percent of all listening in Cincinnati. iHeartMedia News/Talk 700 WLW rises 13.1 to 14.1 which Huff notes is its largest share since 1990. Cumulus Classic Hits 103.5 WGRR rises 10.9 to 11.7 to tie its largest share set in May 2019. Hubbard Country “B105” WUBE rises 7.0 to 7.3. Cumulus Classic Rock “92.5 The Fox” WOFX is down 5.2 to 5.0. iHeartMedia Conservative Talk 550 WKRC rises 4.6 to 4.7.

Audacy Classic Rock 98.5 WNCX remains in the Cleveland market lead down 10.7 to 10.2. iHeartMedia Classic Hits “Majic 105.7” WMJI inches up 9.1 to 9.3. Audacy AC “Star 102” WDOK holds at an 8.8 share. Radio One Adult R&B 93.1 WZAK is jumps up 7.7 to 8.6. iHeartMedia Variety Hits “106.5 The Lake” WHLK holds at a 7.6 share.

Two iHeartMedia stations dove this month with Country 99.5 WGAR down 7.8 to 6.5 and News/Talk 1100/106.9 WTAM drops 7.9 to 6.4.

Cumulus Classic Hits 94.9 KCMO-FM expands its Kansas City lead up 9.1 to 9.4, while Classic Rock “101 The Fox” KCFX trends down 9.4 – 8.7 – 7.7. Public News/Talk 89.3 KCUR slides 6.0 to 5.3. Audacy News/Talk 98.1 KMBZ-FM is down 5.8 to 5.2 to tie Carter Broadcasting Hip Hop “Hot 103 Jamz” KPRS-FM which trends up 4.5 – 4.8 – 5.2.

Both Alternative stations are up in Kansas City with Audacy’s “Alt 96.5” KRBZ trending up 2.2 – 2.7 – 3.1, while Cumulus’ “105.1 The X” KCJK up 1.2 to 2.0. The three Country stations move in the opposite direction as Steel City Media’s 94.1 KFKF goes 5.1 – 4.8 – 4.7, “Q104” KBEQ down 4.3 to 3.5, and Audacy’s “106.5 The Wolf” WDAF-FM down 4.4 to 3.2.

Public News/Talk 89.7 WOSU-FM takes the Columbus market leadership with a 7.3 – 7.8 – 8.1 trend. iHeartMedia CHR 97.9 WNCI drops 7.5 to 7.0, while Country 92.3 WCOL trends down 9.3 – 8.9 – 6.9. iHeartMedia News/Talk 610 WTVN rises 5.9 to 6.7. Saga Classic Rock “QFM 96” WLVQ trends down 7.3 – 6.0 – 5.9.

This story first appeared on radioinsight.com